Portable shovel



g- 1950 A. J. MOLOUGHLIN PORTABLE SHOVEL Filed May 12, 1949 INVENTOR.

ARTHUR J.Mc LOUGHLIN Patented Aug. 29, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPORTABLE SHOVEL Arthur J. McLoughlin, Elmhurst, N. Y.

Application May 12, 1949, Serial No. 92,888

The invention described herein constitutes improvements in the portablematerial handling shovel disclosed in my United States Letters PatentNumber 2,470,217, granted May 17, 1949. The shovel of the foregoingpatent provided a front dump, and the improvements over the patenteddevice comprehend: (1) the provision of a left, right and/or a frontdump; (2) a foot lever for raising the shovel blade; (3) means for locking the scoop in load accumulating and carrying position until ready todump; and (4) means for transporting the load. Other objects, including,but not limited to the foregoing improvements, such as the alleviationof the great physical strain inherent in bending, lifting, carrying andthrowing material, such as snow, will be apparent after reading andunderstanding the description of the invention.

Briefly described, the improved shovel includes a boom, a handle-bar andhandle on one end and a scoop on the other; an encasing and cooperatingtube covering the mid-section of the boom, and tube having a runningcarriage mounted therebeneath; a foot lever attached to the. runninggear for lifting the load, and means to permit dumping right, left, orfront.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved shovel positioned to scoopmaterial.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the shovel.

With reference to the drawings, the invention comprises what I refer toas a boom 5 consisting of an elongated rod which may be fabricated froma single piece of stock, for example aluminum, having the desiredstrength, rigidity and resistance to stress, with its upper end upturnedto form a virtual extension or handle-bar 6, for the right hand, coveredby a serrated handle grip I, for insulating the metal against cold.Handlebar or extension *6 may be provided in varying lengths toaccommodate persons of different heights.

The opposite end of boom 5 carries a conventional scoop B for scoopingand holding material to be moved and dumped.

The midsection of boom 5 is encased by and is turnable within arelatively heavy tubing 9, which may also be fabricated from aluminum,or like material, with said tubing having connected 2.

leg Ill medially thereof, having rigidly mounted therebeneath a fork II.Leg l9 and fork-ll may be formed of a one piece casting and the upperend of a leg Iii threaded into the T connection I2 having pin [3 andattached wing nut 14, shown in Fig. 2, inserted through these memberswhen 7 Claims. (01. 37-430) the leg is threaded home, to lock said legin place and facilitate dismounting of and transporting the shovel.

Journalled in the ends of the fork l l is an axle l5 on the oppositeends ofwhich are mounted wheels I6, and rigidly connected to'andextending from opposite sides of the lower extremities of fork II, at aangle in relation to the axis thereof, is disposed a U-shaped foot leverl1.

Extending from tube 9, on the opposite side of leg I0, I provide ahandle-bar I 8 with handle l9 and this member, as best shown in Fig. 2extends at an acute angle laterally of the axis of the scoop 8, tofacilitate manipulation of the shovel by the left hand. Handle l9 may bemade of wood, hard rubber, or similar material.

The lower end of a handle-bar I8 is threaded in and engageable withcomplemental' threads through tubing 9, with the said lower endfrictionally engaging and locking rod 5 against turning when handle-barI8 is given about a half turn to right.

In moving material, for example snow, I have found as an expedient, toprevent snow from' adhering to the scoop 8, that preliminarily coatingwith paraifine wax will last a winter season and snow will not stick tothe scoop in even small amounts.

In operating the invention, the handles 1 and [9, (in locked position)are grasped with the right and left hands and movably carried on rod 5and tubing 9, respectively with the entire structure carried on leg l0,fork ll, axle l5 and wheels l6, which may be styled the running gear.The scoop 8 is then pushed into an accumulation of snow until loadedpFoot lever I1 is then depressed, raising the oppositely disposed load;the

load is then wheeled to the place it is to be dumped, and the handles Iand i9 manipulated to turn the shovel right or left. Handle 19 is thengiven a turn to the left, unlocking rod 5, and the handle 1 turned rightor left. to 'dump the load by gravity.

The procedure-just described may be varied after the snow has beenloaded, as follows:' the shovel may be loaded andif it is desired tofrontdump the scoop, the shovel may be given a quick forward push of afew inches and the load will fly off the blade.

I have found that the shovel is 'a boon to the harried householder'whohas to shovel snow from his sidewalks and driveways, whichtoo often, isnot only an arduous task, but work permanently straining the heart, andoftentimes with fatal results. The great incident of hernia is directlytraceable, in many cases, to shoveling materials,

particularly snow. There is no lifting, straining,

fabricated from readily available materials. I.

have mentioned aluminum as one material, but this is illustrative, notlimitative. The low cost of the shovel will enable the vast majority ofhome owners and others to buy it.

While I have described snow as one material to be moved, the shovel canmanifestly be employed for other materials, i. e.: sand, refuse, coal,etc.

I reserve the right to make such changes and V modifications as may comewithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 7

r 1. A portable material handling shovel including: a boom, having ahandle on one end, a scoop on' the other end and a midsectiontherebetween;

'to the tube; said handle bar operative to lock the boom against turningand operative to unlock the boom to permit turning.

2. A portable material handling shovel including: a rod like boom,having an upstanding handle v on one end, a scoop on the other, and arelatively straight mids ection; an elongated tube enclosingthefmidsection of the boom, the tube having a handle bar projectingoutwardly and upwardly therefrom and carrying a handle, the boomturnable within the tube; running gear disposed be-- neath and rigidlyconnected'to the tube; the latter handle bar threaded through the tubeto frictionally engage the boom to prevent turning 'thereof and adaptedto be manipulated todisengage the boom and permit turning thereof, and

means attached to the running gear adapted to be depressed to raise thescoop when loaded.

3. A portable material handling shovel including: a red like boom,having an upstanding handle on one end, a scoop on the other, and arelatively straight midsection; a tube enclosing the midsec-' tion ofthe boom and having a handle bar projecting outwardly and upwardly at arelatively acute angle therefrom and carrying a handle; running geardisposed beneath and rigidly connected to the tube; the handle barthreaded through the tube to frictionally engage the boom and adapted tobe turned to permit the boom to turn; and means attached to the runninggear for raising the scoop.

4. A portable material handling shovel including: a boom having one endbent upwardly and carrying a handle at the endthereof and a scoop on theother for scooping and carrying material, i and a relatively straightmidsection; a tube enclosing the midsection of the boom and having ahandle bar projecting from one end thereof and at an acute angletherefrom and carrying a handle, with the midsection of the boomrevolvable within the tube; a running gear disposed beneath and rigidlyconnected to the tube; the last mentioned handle bar threaded throughthe tube to frictionally engage the boom and adapted to be turned topermit the boom and its cooperatively mounted scoop to be turned rightor left to dump the material carried by the scoop, and means attached tothe running gear and in parallelism with the tube, for lifting theloaded scoop.

5. A portable shovel including: a rod like boom having one end bentupwardly and provided with a handle, a scoop mounted on the other endand a relatively straight midsection therebetween; a 7

tube enclosing the midsection of the boom and having a handle barprojecting outwardly and upwardly therefrom and carrying a handle;running gear disposed medially beneath and rigidly connected to thetube; a foot lever rigidly connected to the running gear, and disposedin parallelism with the tube; the second mentioned handle bar threadedthrough the wall of the tube to frictionally engage the boom and adaptedto be turned to disengage the boom to permit manip'ulation of the firstmentioned handle bar to turn the scoop right or left to dump materialcarried on the scoop; the foot lever adapted to be depressed to raisethe shovel when loaded.

'6. A portable shovel including: a rod like boom having one end upturnedand provided with a handle, a scoop mounted on the other end and arelatively straight midsection therebetween; a tube enclosing themids'ection of the boom and having an elongated handle bar projectingoutwardly and upwardly therefrom at a relatively acute angle andcarrying a handle; running gear rigidly connected to and beneath thetube comprising a leg, and a fork carrying a pair of axially 'mountedwheels; a foot lever consisting of a U upturned and. forming a handle,the opposite end carrying a shovel, the midsection of the boom encasedin and adapted to turn within an elongated tubing; said tubing beingmedially and rigidly connected to and supported on running gear disposedbelow and medially of said'tubing, said gear provided with a foot leverextending from the opposite sides thereof, below and in relativeparallelism with the tubing and boom; a handle bar and handle extendingfrom the upper end of the tubing and therethrough and engageable withthe boom, and adapted to be manipulated to dump the scoop; the footlever adapted to be depressed to raise the scoop.

ARTHUR J. MCLOUGHLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 585,632 Reese June 29, 1897 72,441,449 Shaw l May 11, 1948

